Going Through Medical School and Considering the Choice of Family Medicine: Prescription or Antidote?

Mauksch, Hans O.; And Others

A study of the choice of specialty by medical students suggests that Family Medicine depends on students whose choice predates medical school; the number of those interested diminishes significantly over the four years. Interviews suggest several characteristics of the medical school that mitigate against the choice of family medicine and steer the student toward specialty choices, particularly those linked with technological and topographical domains. The medical school, for several reasons, serves as an urbanizing force, representing conditions of density, heterogenity, division of labor, specialization, interdependence, and identifiable and defensible areas of control. While Family Medicine is perceived to be integrative and syncretic, the rewards offered to medical students emphasize the importance and rewards associated with subspecialization. The medical school is an environment in which students are steered away from Family Medicine by virtue of the practices and professional flavor associated with the educational experience of the student. Family Medicine, therefore, must be concerned not only with its image, but also with its conditions of practice. It must make hard decisions about its future and its ability to recruit. (Author/LBH)